Show Your Sari

I was very intrigued when I saw this article, a while back, in the November 2008 issue of Working Mother magazine. According to Show Your Sari, "new research suggests that middle schoolers don’t need to feel trendy to feel good" and that "11-14 year olds who dress according to the customs of their own ethnic group are less likely to have mental health problems than those who don’t."

I started thinking about my middle school years. I used to really dress up for school! I would wear ruffle blouses, dresses, and skirts. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I wasn’t allowed to wear pants because of my very legalistic, Pentecostal church upbringing. Although I wished I could wear pants, I did like dressing up so perhaps my frilly get-ups and my feeling good in them did contribute to my not having a mental breakdown. Lol. It really goes to show that when you feel good dressing in your particular style, you don’t have to bow to trends.

Here are a couple of pics of me in Junior High School. This one is from my JHS yearbook. It's hard to see the detail but I am wearing a very high collar ruffly white blouse with a skirt. I definitely did not dress my age!

This is me in seventh grade. I LOVED this pink tie neck top. I don't know how many times I wore it. I know it was a lot!

Wondering what ethnic cultural dress keeps me sane now? ....My Pedro Albizu Campos tops! This one is still available in my shop!